PROJECTS: Ongoing at various rates of production or planned
Probably the largest single piece of work I have underway is my own version of the history of Paleoindian (nee Early Man) Archaeology in the Americas. The near misses and illegitimate assertions of Pleistocene humans in the New World have been covered fairly well by a good number of people who have approached the topic at various scales, often site specific. David Meltzer deserves special mention for the impressive amount of good work he has done on this topic. Though I will say I disagree very strongly about a number of issues with him and will put some real effort in to articulating them. I think I will just do a post about what I am hoping to cover in my version of this history at some point. I will say that the yet to be published sites, finds, personalities, and implications are staggering. There is an unbelievable amount of new* data that I will present (*new here means published or found prior to 1927 but has not seen the light of day since at least then). My approach essentially differs from that of others in that I focus on the real finds of Pleistocene artifacts that were not recognized for what they truly were at the time. Why we (the royal we man) got it wrong is really important within the development of our little branch of science. The actual Paleoindian finds made prior to 1927 that wandered off into obscurity still exist and can in fact inform us today.
Because so many people famous for other things are involved in the story, if only briefly, I include my three pronged joke working title as it appears on my draft:
The one true History of Paleoindian Research in North America: Or two heads found in the Morass (Wistar 1818:375-380): Or The least interesting thing they ever did.
With seven American presidents, Ben Franklin, and Lewis and Clark, among the group of people who had direct hands on involvement with sites and/or specimens, truly, the involvement with early Paleoindian archaeology was often the least interesting thing some of these folks did.
In order to finish this properly I need to visit about 30 museums and archives across the USA; at least 2 each in Germany, Paris, England; and a handful of others in other places. My idea is a pair of companion volumes weaving together the tale of the early finds, sites, and personalities, with modern state of the art science to query the old finds for new information useful today. Basically, what was initially found, why did we get it wrong, and what can we learn from these materials today and broaden our understanding of the Pleistocene Paleoindian world? Doing the work to track down all of the archival materials and surviving collections in order to do modern work would make a pretty good TV show too I think. If you want to help this work proceed or be part of it let me know, there is a LOT to do.
The book is the biggest project I am ready to talk about right now but there are two others that, should they come off well, will be mind blowing. As I can develop my ideas about them I’ll bring them up too.
Current research projects range in form from smaller scale literature searches to facilitate writing and publishing of various relevant topics that can be of about any size (like a single artifact from a museums collection) and can include a wide range of analysis ranging from: direct dating of materials and other analysis such as stable isotopes, XRF/XRFD, ZooMS or collagen fingerprinting, XAD and other advanced dating techniques such as PIMS, eDNA or aDNA, and other forms of analysis as applicable. Topics listed below can go from a single item getting the whole battery of inquires above or all the way up to large scale fieldwork research that could include multi-year excavations and analysis such as the Wakulla Springs underwater work or the Vero project excavation and lab work from 2014-2018. This to do list is really the heart of P2P and the projects can really be any scale. I will try to build them as time, resources, and interest allow. If you find you are interested in any of the work please let me know if you want to get involved. I would be happy to get others involved in most all of these.
Some other important goals include providing additional educational and training opportunities for our staff and volunteers (both professional and laypersons). We want professional scientists qualified to safely reach inaccessible sites. Deep and cave or cavern diving being the two most immediate needs within the archaeological research interests of P2P due to current research opportunities. Other hands on types of work include mold and cast making (the old fashion way!), and, manufacture, use and breakage of experimental archaeological replica’s in attempts to re-create and understand past processes that created the material found in the archaeological and historical record.
One re-occurring topic will be long term climate change and the specific adaptive human responses at any given suite of circumstances. Hopefully insights from the past can help us understand our modern problems better.
Also will be trying to provide some professional development and education opportunities. We are developing short courses, akin to masters classes, in experimental and replicative archaeology, mold and cast making, and researcher development. This last point is particularly important. Namely, developing the necessary skills to look at a body of data and determine what remains unanswered, figuring out what we don’t know, and then articulating exactly what information is needed to fill that gap, and teaching other researchers how to go about generating that data, are, for the most part, not skills that students are trained in, at any level. This is something that I have worked diligently on since before I got my PhD and would try to help other students with things I had come across related to their work. Now it really takes the form of mentoring students and engaging other interested people.
Over time the items below will develop into links discussing the projects and hopefully, how the active work is progressing as we are able to generate support through grants and donations. I initially wrote the list for me to work from so I will keep expanding the sections and make it easier to see what each one really entails.
Vero, the book, In Vero Veritas. Needs Hs analysis, expanded history, Addition modern analysis?- expand possible Pre-Clovis occ. Conclusions.
The Organic Clovis- Clovis diet and subsistence technology and what they tell us about Early Paleoindian lifeways and behavior (revising myPhD) -book length manuscript, adn would make a great documentary video series.
Document when precisely Florida’s Long Leaf Pine forests develop & mature? Is there a time transgressive procession S/N or E/W or fresh & salt water related? Is it post 8,000rcybp and can you see cultural shifts tied to it?
Offshore research of the now inundated landscape and Pleistocene biotic communities. eDNA soils throughout column: Salty-Brackish-Fresh- and Dry changes (I.E. first and last appearances of animals, bacteria (think red tide example: commonly called algal bloom of phytoplankton and dinoflagellates: common species include- Gonyaulax , Karenia, Gymnodinium, Dinophysis, Noctiluca, Chattonella, Amoebophyra ), flora) and the implications for life on land and underwater. N.B. periodicity of blooms! Earliest noted in 1500s.
At 1,000 and/or 500 year intervals how well can we reconstruct the landscape, hydrology, and biotic communities of Florida from the LGM (22,000ya) until today? >50% lost landmass, extinctions, extirpations (species that go extinct locally but survive elsewhere- like the horses for example), fresh and salt water on the landcape.
Date more Ivory tools, IVORY tool illustrated booklet/ reviewed publication- Scientific article and popular book – Bone, Teeth, Antler, Ivory tools of Florida.
Mineer Site, Vernon, AZ enigmatic, lost, Clovis site, scattered collections, LOTS of important manufacturing and cultural information. Relocate between Google Earth & Ancestry
The Good, the Bad, and the Comic: Uses of Native American imagery in Advertising
Cyrus Ray: A forgotten man in early Paleoindian Studies- revise and finish manuscript
Ballistic Gelatin atlatl experiments, SM camera, performance study- Movie & Paper
1862 Sioux War Victims and execution atrocities (MA for student intern or paper)
Fritz Scholder Untitled Blood Skull Drawing (Censored Radisson Hotel Paper, 2001) paper
Stone Tools of Florida- by Culture and time period. Book and series of webpages.
Kids Pleistocene Animals of the New World, Florida first book
Faunules of Florida- Pleistocene Bestiary from Paleo sites, differences N/S etc paper>book? Zones today, best estimates of PL and since.
Archaeology and History of Research at Blackwater Draw, Clovis, NM
Sellards-Wormington EARLY MAN volumes from 1952 and 1957: create a similar style of book updated today.
How many flakes to a Clovis Point, Folsom, etc paper
Apache resistance and incarceration. Particularly the Florida and Alabama periods. If you have photographs or unpublished information I would really be interested in talking with you.
Yaqui resistance and attempted extermination. Papers, would also make an excellent documentary. Very interested in Yaqui and Mexican Revolution postcards and other ephemera not typically utilized in this kind of research.
Seminole resistance- especially 2nd Seminole War and forts across Florida
Agricultural technology through the Age of Enlightenment, then through the Steam Age, with the transition to internal combustion engines (yes I will include the early electric vehicles too).
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